Printing of some documents, such as financial payment mechanisms such as credit cards, gift cards, debit cards, phone cards, etc. which are printed on a plastic substrate does not lend itself well to efficient customized printing in small quantities. In typical prior art processes, all orders and all cards were manufactured in a client batch process, where large quantities of identical cards were printed and any defective cards merely discarded. This solution is acceptable with high-volume quantities of non-custom products. However, with individual cards or documents that are personalized with user-defined customizations, each card that does not print successfully has to be reprinted. This process becomes even more complex when the card, for example a gift card, is to be matched with another product, for example a greeting card or other tangible gift. In this situation, not only must each failed production be replicated, but the sequence of the card within the process must often be accounted for, less the combining the other gift cards with a tangible gift or other item likewise be unsynchronized. In typical prior art processes, batches of generic gift cards are printed in an initial part of the process, and, at a later part of the process, any type of customized data is then thermally printed or embossed on the plastic substrate.
In additions, systems currently exist that allows the personalization of a plastic card one at a time, such as those made by DataCard. Unfortunately, in such a process the quality is unacceptable and the process inefficient, slow, and costly for commercial viability. The big challenge is how to associate one out of multiple cards in a production run with the correct vendor and parameter configuration, such as magnetic stripe format, given that the magnetic stripe laminate isn't even adhered to the card until later in the manufacturing process
Further, using conventional techniques, gift cards have typically been manufactured using a batch process technique in which a plurality of cards having one or more similar parameters are all set up and manufactured in batches. For example, a plurality of gift cards for vendor A would require a manual set up of the card data, typically involving the uploading of a list of card identifiers, and the specific magnetic strip format which includes the number of tracks, the arrangement of tracks and the exact positioning of where the data within the tracks of the magnetic strip are to be positioned and a common graphic for one or both sides. The cards for vendor A may then be manufactured.
If the next batch of cards to be manufactured are for vendor B, which utilize a different magnetic strip format than vendor A and different graphics, the entire process must be repeated since the formatting and arrangement of data within the magnetic strips is different from that of vendor A.
Because of the inherent inefficiencies in such a batching process, manufacturers are reluctant to set up batch runs of less than a minimum threshold quantity or entertain a request for a specific card format, thereby discouraging any kind of on-demand or real time requesting of gift cards from one or more vendors.
Systems and techniques for on-demand generation of customized greetings cards shipped in association with gifts are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,965,912 and 7,359,554, both entitled Method and Apparatus for Distribution of Greeting Cards with Electronic Commerce Transaction, and both by Friedman et al. Systems and techniques for on-demand generation of customized gift cards in association with on-demand generation of customized gift cards are disclosed in PCT Patent Application No. PCT/US04/13569, entitled Method and Apparatus for Creation, Personalization and Fulfillment of Greeting Cards with Gift Cards with Enhanced Security, published as International Publication No. WO 2005/114440 A1, and U.S. Pat. No. 7,370,076, also entitled Method and Apparatus for Creation, Personalization and Fulfillment of Greeting Cards, by Friedman et al. Notwithstanding the teachings for the foregoing documents, a need still exists for a method and technique which enables gift cards to be manufactured on-demand in accordance with the specifications of different vendors without the need for reformatting of the magnetic strip data on the card.
Accordingly, a need exists for a method and technique which enables a plurality of gift cards to be manufactured substantially simultaneously even though their respective parameters, including magnetic strip formats, may vary from card to card.
A further need exists for a method by which financial payment cards may be printed more efficiently.
An even further need exists for a method by which certain types of documents, such as those printed on rich materials, including polyvinyl chloride, other new or recycled plastics, vegetable based materials, etc., can be printed with customizations and personalization defined by the users, but which also utilizes the maximum throughput capability of the manufacturing processes.